[silversteed]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Were you able to spot the entry points too at night? Since they have in such a haphazard way. Unless there was a vehicle ahead, it was not easy to spot till you are close, so in a way traffic helped in that part.

I concur. I'd driven during the wee hours of a December weekend and ours was the only vehicle on the highway for kilometres together - some of those barricades so perfectly adjusted (or so it appeared) that it's nigh possible to spot the free lane and the blocked lane from a distance.

There was no consistent pattern nor was there any consistent gap between two barricades - some of them allowed even long trailers to cross without slowing down a lot while some required smaller trucks to snake around them in a crawl.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Yes. My drive was somewhere around Oct...

Probably the barricades got moved around quite a lot, unsurprisingly, after your trip.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by silversteed

Probably the barricades got moved around quite a lot, unsurprisingly, after your trip.

Yes. Saw lot of them in bad shape due to vehicles hitting them.

Saw a pic in a travelogue today which has the barricades I mentioned about. You can notice the reflective stickers, crude ones but does the work.

PIC

[Mnjdnght]

An update from my recent drive

Jan 12
Anna Nagar - Sriperumbudur - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Koramangala
- Started at 6 AM, reached at 11 AM with 3 stops (50 mins total)
- Poonamalee high road upto Maduravoyal is very patchy. After that it seemed relatively smoother.
- Drive upto Sriperumbudur saw decent amount of traffic with some patchy stretches
- Sriperumbudur till Chennasamudram (Walajapet) seemed way decent compared to my earlier drive about 6 months prior. Still there are some potholes that spring up nasty surprises if not careful.
- After Ambur it seemed like the left most lane is now frequented by vehicles in the opposite direction. Need to be very watchful if you have to use the left lane.
- All tolls are Fast Tag enabled. But, it is now becoming a pain to use the Fast Tag lanes. In my drive they were the longest with a chain of trucks taking their own time in going through. At Sriperumbudur, I pulled into the adjacent left lane to pay cash but to my surprise it read the tag and I went through quickly. At Krishnagiri, there are two Fast Tag enabled lanes (only 1 is manned as exclusive lane) but couldn't use both so paid cash. Attibelle toll booth seem to have Fast Tag enabled on all lanes though only 1 is exclusive. Across all tolls, all exclusive Fast Tag lanes were slow and crowded.
- Ride on BETL to Madiwala and then to Koramangala gets you back into Bangalore mode and soon the journey before becomes a distant memory

[narayans80]

Some updates from my Madras-Hosur-Madras drive.

- The Bangalore bound stretch from Madras to Walajah has shown huge improvement since my drive last month. Lot of sections have been resurfaced, the lane markers are not completed though.
- Since this drive was done with a 450am start time, couldn't notice the exact stretches that have improved. The only place where I found it was obviously bad was near Kanchipuram bypass, rest were either resurfaced with lane markers or without.
- The return stretch is mostly good except for the following stretches: Sunguvachatram bypass, Sriperumbudur bypass, small sections between Nemili toll and Thirumazhisai, Poonamalee bypass is so-so.

Barricades:
- On the onward almost all had the middle lane empty to go past, except for the notable exception of Arcot bypass.
- Almost 5-6 barricades have mushroomed on Krishnagiri-Hosur and Hosur-Krishnagiri stretches (compared to 1 in December). These are the most notorious without any reflective stickers. It was daytime both ways, so I managed avoid in time.
- Be wary that on the Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch its difficult to spot them in the morning time since the sun is straight at your face. Sunglasses are recommended.
- On the Madras bound direction, there's one about 3 km ahead of Ambur where all lanes are barricaded and the only way out is through the service lane

Fastag:
- Worked on dedicated lanes all through.
- Only Vaniyambadi toll on onward was hand scanner, rest were auto scan.
- The ETC Hybrid lane on Pallikonda (Madras-Bangalore direction) is a farce. There is no scanner there, only the dedicated lane works.
- The Fastag lane at Chennasaumdram is now regulated as a dedicated lane.

Timings

Onward (in emergency mode)
Home 450 am
Nemili 530
Chennasamudram 620
Grand Preethi 730-745
Hosur 905

Return (in lazy mode)
Hosur 720 am
Shoolagiri HP 730-825
Nemili 1130
Home 1255 pm

[prabhuferrari]

Does anyone know if the hosur border will be closed tomorrow due to the Bandh? Am planning to drive back to chennai from bangalore in a TN registered car. I have very late calls tonight till 10 and can't drive post that. And since it's a foggy season not sure if an early morning start will be safe. Any suggestions ? I know this bandh has nothing to do with Cauvery but then

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Am planning to drive back to chennai from bangalore in a TN registered car.

Better not to take risk with a TN registered car.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

I know this bandh has nothing to do with Cauvery but then

As Arun mentioned above, I too would suggest not to try your luck.

If possible, try starting early in morning. Fog usually is an issue around small sections around Ambur and then around Hosur. But it will be only for couple of KM's, nothing to be alarmed of. With an early start, you can reach Bangalore before 07:00 AM.

Else, start late afternoon from Chennai and reach Bangalore ~ 07:00 PM or so.

Where in Bangalore are you headed to?

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Does anyone know if the hosur border will be closed tomorrow due to the Bandh? Am planning to drive back to chennai from bangalore in a TN registered car. I have very late calls tonight till 10 and can't drive post that. And since it's a foggy season not sure if an early morning start will be safe. Any suggestions ? I know this bandh has nothing to do with Cauvery but then

Bandh is from 6 AM to 6PM. If you can leave by 4 30 AM, there should be no issues.
Moreover came to know from sources that it could be a lukewarm bandh.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

As Arun mentioned above, I too would suggest not to try your luck.

If possible, try starting early in morning. Fog usually is an issue around small sections around Ambur and then around Hosur. But it will be only for couple of KM's, nothing to be alarmed of. With an early start, you can reach Bangalore before 07:00 AM.

Else, start late afternoon from Chennai and reach Bangalore ~ 07:00 PM or so.

Where in Bangalore are you headed to?

Prabhu wants to get back to Chennai from Bangalore in his TN registered car. That being the case, he can leave by 4 30 AM

[binand]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Fog usually is an issue around small sections around Ambur and then around Hosur.

Fog is unpredictable. I have been stuck (< 10m visibility; had to park on the road side with hazards on) between Poonamallee and Sriperumbudur at 7 AM once - for about 30 minutes. Main thing to remember is to not drive during thick fog; or drive at speeds that are comfortable for the visibility (at 80 kmph, I think 100m visibility is mandated by California Highway Patrol, if I recall correctly).

[ravib]

Originally Posted by binand

Fog is unpredictable. I have been stuck (< 10m visibility; had to park on the road side with hazards on) between Poonamallee and Sriperumbudur at 7 AM once - for about 30 minutes. Main thing to remember is to not drive during thick fog; or drive at speeds that are comfortable for the visibility (at 80 kmph, I think 100m visibility is mandated by California Highway Patrol, if I recall correctly).

This is true. Last week when i was traveling to Madras from Bangalore, Fog slowed me down. Last year, it took me 2.5 hours to reach Krishnagiri (90 kms) from Bangalore due to heavy fog.

Why don't you consider the Chittoor route to avoid any problems because you have TN registered car? Usually there are not many problems in NH4 route because the border is with AP. If at all there is any problem, more drama happens in Attibelle/TN border all the time for any water dispute issues.

-Ravi

[subbu567]

Hello Folks

Doing a Chennai road trip after ages tomorrow. Given the bandh situation planning to leave at 430 am and via Old madras road. The destination is outer fringes of Thiruvanmiyaur, so for the final stretch plan to go via Sriperumbudur, Manimangalam, Kelambakkam and Kovalam, as I may be entering at peak traffic time.

Old Madras Road via chittoor because its advised to avoid the NH 4 due to barricades. Is it a good plan or should just tick to Hosur route and drive carefully?

Best
Subbu

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by subbu567

The destination is outer fringes of Thiruvanmiyaur, so for the final stretch plan to go via Sriperumbudur, Manimangalam, Kelambakkam and Kovalam, as I may be entering at peak traffic time.

For both the route options - Old Madras road or Hosur road, route past Walajapet is same.


If barricades are your only concern, you can continue on Hosur road. Just keep safe distance between vehicles so as to have margin in case of sudden maneuver due to barricades.

[prabhuferrari]

Thank you everyone. Started at 4.20 AM from Richmond road. All smooth and no issues whatsoever.

[Nimz]

Hello friends - am driving to Chennai from Bangalore tomorrow -26th and being a long weekend would like your expert suggestions on when to start from Whitefield. I usually leave around 4 am but tomorrow I have some work and can start only after 8 am hence my query here. Would 8 am be good enough to avoid traffic at the tolls or should I delay to 9 am and beyond. I would like to reach Chennai before dark though. Thanks for your inputs. Nimz

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Nimz

Hello friends - am driving to Chennai from Bangalore tomorrow -26th and being a long weekend would like your expert suggestions on when to start from Whitefield. I usually leave around 4 am but tomorrow I have some work and can start only after 8 am hence my query here. Would 8 am be good enough to avoid traffic at the tolls or should I delay to 9 am and beyond. I would like to reach Chennai before dark though. Thanks for your inputs. Nimz

Traffic is sparse in Bangalore. Even if you plan to start by 8 AM I would suggest you to take the Hosur route as road widening is going on the AP side if you take the Old Madras Road.